Newspaper Roundup: Journal Comm; Seattle-Times; AP; WSJ.com

David Kaplan

Dec. 19, 2008 - 8:03 PM PST
Dec. 19, 2008 - 8:03 PM PST

– Journal Comm online revs fall 5 percent: A few days after the Milwaukee company has laid off 39 workers (17 cut at its newspaper), Journal Communications (NYSE: JRN) has some more bad news: total interactive ad revenue at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, fell 5 percent to $1.13 million in November. Meanwhile, total revenues at the Publishing and Broadcast groups dropped 10 percent to $36.01 million. And at the daily newspaper, ad sales were $10.62 million, down 22.3 percent for the month. Separately, the company also said that Q4 earnings would include a non-cash goodwill impairment charge. No specifics were offered. Journal Comm’s goodwill was $240.4 million at the end of Q3.

— Seattle Times furloughs employees: Newspaper publishing is starting to resemble to auto industry… The Seattle Times has asked 500 managers and non-union workers to take a week off without pay. The affected staffers can choose to take the time off either all at once or a day at a time. Last month, the paper, 49.5 percent of which is owned by The McClatchy Co. (NYSE: MNI), laid off 130 to 150 staffers to rein in costs.

The rest is after the jump

— Washington daily postpones plan to drop AP: The Spokesman-Review has decided not to cancel its Associated Press membership at the end of this year. Instead, it will hold off its withdrawal until at least 2010. The paper initially said it would disregard the mandatory two-year membership cancellation notice after saying it wanted out of its AP contract in August. The Spokane, WA-based paper’s editor Gary Graham told E&P: “Our plan now is to remain an AP client until our current contract expires on Aug. 28, 2010. We’ll reconsider our termination if AP continues to work toward competitive pricing and bundling of its services.”

— WSJ.com tweaks Tech page: Following the major revamp WSJ.com unveiled back in September, the site is adding a few items to the Tech page before the year is out. It’s reorganized into three main areas